As evidence mounts that the U.S. economy is slowing down, Congress has chosen a perfect time to consider the negative economic consequences of cap-and-trade schemes to limit greenhouse gas emissions. On Wednesday, the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming will hold a hearing on alternative cap-and-trade plans.

“If Congress and the Administration want to guarantee that the current economic downturn turns into an ongoing recession, they should enact a cap-and-trade bill as quickly as possible,” said Myron Ebell, Director of Energy and Global Warming Policy for the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

“Look at the European experience,” said Ebell. “European companies that supported the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) are now calling for an end to the resulting economic damage.”

According to a January 21 article in the Financial Times, the European Roundtable of Industrialists has sent a letter to the European Union Commission warning that the ETS threatens to destroy the competitiveness of European industry.

“The claim that cap and trade will create many ‘green collar’ jobs overlooks the massive job losses caused by draconian energy rationing policies,” said Ebell. “Cap-and-trade would be a great economic stimulus package – for China, India and Mexico.”

“Unfortunately, the people lobbying Congress and the Bush Administration to enact cap-and-trade are hired hands for big corporate special interests that would profit from higher prices and restrictions on hydrocarbon energy,” Ebell concluded.